Hodomoyoshi’s Fashionable Ôtsu Pictures

(Hodomoyoshi toki ni Ôtsu-e, 程芳流行大津絵)

Publisher: Iba-ya Sensaburô

c. 1845-1846

Ôtsu-e are traditional folk paintings sold to travelers in Ôtsu, on Lake Biwa near Kyoto. The vast majority of Ôtsu-e are of a relatively small number of subjects, making them recognizable by both their simple style and their subject matter. In this series, figures are paired with Ôtsu-e. Although the prints are each signed, Kuniyoshi uses the pseudonym Hodomoyoshi in the red title cartouche adjoining the Ôtsu-e. This may have had something to do with the sporadic enforcement of censorship laws. The prints in this series are each about 14 by 10 inches (36 by 25 centimeters), a size known as ôban. The pattern on the top of these prints is used on the dust jacket of Robinson’s book Kuniyoshi (Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 1961).

	Figures: Chidori and Kiri-ishi Tange, he is on one knee holding a tub over his hand Ôtsu-e: Daikoku shaving Fukurokuju’s head Robinson: S43.1
	Figures: Ihei the servant (yakko Ihei) Ôtsu-e: a retainer carrying a sheathed spear Robinson: S43.2
	Figures: Kamada Matahachi carrying a huge bell Ôtsu-e: Benkei carrying the bell of Miidera Robinson: S43.3
	Figures: Katô Shigeuji holding a sake cup Ôtsu-e: Asahina Saburô drinking a huge bowl of sake Robinson: S43.4
	Figures: Kichizô (吉三), a young aristocrat, carrying a box Ôtsu-e: a falconer Robinson: S43.5
No image available	Figures: Miyamoto Musashi outside a doorway Ôtsu-e: demon and a hanging cloth Robinson: S43.6
No image available	Figures: O-Shun standing and carrying a bundle Ôtsu-e: the Wisteria Maiden (see image at bottom of this page) Robinson: S43.7
	Figures: O-Yumi, wife of Awa no Jurobei, and her daughter O-Tsuro holding a straw hat Ôtsu-e: a cat and a rat feasting together Robinson: S43.8
	Figures: the nun Seigen-biku in traveling dress Ôtsu-e: an oni dressed as a traveling priest (see image at bottom of this page) Robinson: S43.9 NOTE: Oni are demons with long nails, wild hair, two horns and a fierce expression.
	Figures: Shimizu Kwanja Yoshitaka raising his sword at a giant rat Ôtsu-e: a blind man raising his stick at a dog Robinson: S43.10
	To the left are Ôtsu-e of the Wisteria Maiden and of an oni disguised as a priest.

“Robinson” refers to listing in Kuniyoshi: The Warrior-Prints by Basil William Robinson (Cornell University Press, Ithaca, NY, 1982) and its privately published supplement.

CLICK HERE TO RETURN TO MAIN PAGE